There are many types of food mixers ranging from small hand held appliances to very large scale mixers standing, perhaps, three to six feet tall. In the large scale mixers, the tool for stirring or mixing a food product is large enough and strong enough to injure a person, perhaps even tearing a hand or arm from the body.
Accordingly, suitable guards should be provided to prevent a person from getting close enough to the stirring tool to be injured. The trouble with such a guard is that the cook, or baker wants to have easy access during the mixing process. For example, a person might want to repeatedly taste the mix and to add flavoring or other ingredients, and then to taste again while the mixing is in progress. As a result, the guard must be removed from and then returned to the mixer. However, if the removal of the guard is difficult and troublesome, the temptation will be to operate the food mixer without having the guard in place. Accordingly, it should be possible to easily install, remove, and reinstall the guard. Also, the mixer should be arranged so that it can not be operated unless the guard is in place.
For these and similar reasons, the prior art has provided a guard which the person using the mixer installs, releases, lifts off, and then replaces. This requires the person to have a near by table or other support to set the guard down after it is removed. The mixer may not be shut down promptly so that there is a hazardous, unguarded interval. Also, matching the guard to its clips, points of attachment or the like will require some time period each time that the guard is installed or reinstalled.